The principal of Whangārei Boys’ High School is paying tribute to “a much-loved son and brother”, after the student died on a caving trip amid torrential rain yesterday.

The Year 11 boy disappeared after he and 14 of his classmates, accompanied by two teachers, got into difficulty on an outdoor education trip at Abbey Caves.

Whangārei Boys’ High School principal Karen Gilbert-Smith said she knew there would be a lot of questions to answer, “but I am simply not in a position to provide answers at this early stage out of respect for the whānau”.

“It’s really important for me to let you know how devastated we are that one of our whānau have lost a much-loved and treasured son and brother. The impact of this tragedy is being felt widely amongst our school staff, students and community,” Gilbert-Smith said.

A student of Whangarei Boys' High School died while on a caving trip with classmates on April 9, 2023. Photo / Michael Cunningham

She said a full and comprehensive investigation by police and WorkSafe into the incident needed to be completed, and “[the school] will, of course, fully comply”.

“The school is continuing to operate as normal as possible and continue to focus on supporting all whānau, staff and student impacted - with assistance from iwi and appropriate agencies,” she said.

The student’s whānau have thanked the emergency services and search and rescue teams involved in bringing their boy home.

Search and rescue teams recovered the missing student’s body last night.

A family member shared a message of thanks on a Facebook group yesterday.

“On behalf of the whānau, we cannot express how grateful we are to all those who were involved in helping us find and bring our baby boy back to us.

“Police, fire crew, search and rescue, medical crew and so much more.

“We all felt so supported and cared for throughout the entire process.

“Your tireless efforts and aroha will be with us forever.”

Flowers left at the entrance to Abbey Caves in Whangārei after the death of a student from Whangārei Boys' High School. Photo / Michael Craig

WorkSafe confirmed this morning an investigation has begun, but cannot comment further while the investigation is under way.

One of the high school students has described the moment he saw his classmate being swept away by floodwaters.

The boy’s mother told Stuff that her son feared for his life as the water rose from waist to neck height in minutes.

“He twice thought he was going to die. He called his teacher a hero. He tried to clamber up [out of the water] and felt his strength going and the teacher gave him a push,” she told Stuff.

One boy slipped from a classmate’s grasp and was swept away in the strong current despite the efforts of two adults to save him.

The group was inside the “canyon-like” Organ Cave when floodwaters hit shortly before 10.30am as heavy rain moved through the region.

The Advocate understands that loved ones remained at the cordon well after dark.

The mother who spoke to Stuff said the school group should have never been in the caves given the weather warnings.

She said communication from the police and school was “shocking”, with police urging the students not to answer their phones after they were rescued as distressed parents tried to reach them.

“I can’t understand why this happened, but then I can’t understand why they went in the first place. You put complete trust in them with your child and you expect them to err on the side of caution.”

A police spokesman said they were unaware of officers urging students not to answer their phones.

However, when the boys were taken back to a separate site, the immediate priority for responding agencies was to get as much detailed information as possible from each person located safely.

“This was to assist with the search and any further investigation. We were also focused on the physical well-being of the persons located that needed to be assessed by St John paramedics.”

When she contacted the school as news of the rescue broke, the mother was told a statement would be coming via email.

“I just wanted to know if my son was alive or not. It’s worth more than a bloody email. You think they’d have the decency to phone parents, not email.”

Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis was at the scene this morning and said the student’s family needed all the love and support they could get from the community.

“We need to be thinking about the other young people from the school - his friends, but also the staff as well. Everybody is really feeling for this and everyone is reeling, but the most important thing to do right now is to have care, compassion and love for those people who are affected, especially the family,” Davis said.

“There will be a time for questions and those questions need to be answered, and I’m sure the school won’t shy away from participating as fully as possible, but right now, you know, we really do need to focus on just helping and supporting people.”

Davis said the Ministry of Education’s trauma team would be at the school today as there would be a lot of people that needed support, and that was really where the focus needed to be at present.

“There will be a lot of emotion, in particular anger as well as sadness. We’ve made the offer to be there if the school would like us to be there; they want to do things in their own way.

“It’s most important that they find their ways to recover, and I totally appreciate that they don’t want a politician there. I totally get that. But when they do want us to be there, we will be there.”

Whangārei Boys' High School principal Karen Gilbert-Smith (far left) with police at Abbey Caves. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northland District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill said police were ensuring the family members of the boy who died are being offered support.

Some cordons will remain in place around the caves area while police continue to conduct a routine scene examination.

Hill said police would not speculate on what happened.

He said police understood that many people would be affected by the “tragic incident”.

“We acknowledge this event has been very distressing for the school and wider community, and that there are a number of questions the public will have.

“At the moment, police focus is on supporting those affected, and we remind people to please not make assumptions as to what has occurred.”

A public outcry blasted the school for allowing the trip to go ahead despite the region being under an orange heavy rain warning. MetService had forecast 90mm of rain yesterday.

Parents posted online criticising the school’s “absolutely insane” decision.

Questions about why the outing was not called off remain unanswered, and intensified after Stuff revealed students were meant to be rock climbing but the forecast downpours forced the trip underground instead.

Gilbert-Smith , the Whangārei Boys’ High School principal, broke her silence five hours after the student went missing. She had spent the day at the caves while rescuers worked to find the boy.

She said a “full and comprehensive” investigation would take place.

“But for now I have asked the WBHS community to stay united and provide support where required.”

Gilbert-Smith said the current focus was on supporting whānau, staff and students involved as well as the wider school community with help from iwi and other agencies.

The Ministry of Education’s traumatic incident team is supporting the school, and family liaison officers and Victim Support have put measures in place to assist the student’s whānau.

Students from the outdoor education class were taken back to the school for further medical treatment and were reunited with their anxious parents waiting outside the main building.

Gilbert-Smith said her thoughts and aroha were with everyone concerned, “especially the whānau of the young person who is missing”.

An aunt of the missing boy yesterday called for prayers from the community to help find her “lost” nephew.

The boy’s father was seen arriving at the scene yesterday, visibly upset. Another person, thought to be whānau, embraced him in a lengthy hug.

The chairman of the school’s board, Andrew Carvell, told Stuff the school’s thoughts were with the family.

“It’s a very traumatic situation for [those] involved. We anticipate there are going to be questions. I think those questions are reasonable questions to ask.”

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said the council was “deeply concerned” about the events at Abbey Caves.

“Our hearts go out to all those involved.”

Talking to RNZ’s Checkpoint yesterday, the mayor would not be drawn on whether it was appropriate for the school to take students to the cave when bad weather was predicted.

“That’s not something that I can really comment on. This is something the school really needs to go through and discuss with the families.”

Cocurullo said the caves were not staffed.

“They are a natural wilderness area open for all to visit. To the best of our knowledge, we have not had a situation like this at the caves before.

“Whenever an event like this occurs, in any environment, multiple organisations are involved in investigations. We will be taking part to identify any areas for change. In the meantime, our thoughts go out to everyone involved.”

The Abbey Caves are prone to flash flooding, according to the Whangārei District Council website. Yesterday’s rainfall flooded the area, turning small streams into rivers.

To access Organ Cave, people must climb down large rocks and boulders and a torch is needed to be able to see within its limestone walls.